Article-storing devices



May 16 i967 J PELAWN ETAL 3,319,743

ARTI CLE- STORING DEVICES Filed Sept. 21, 1965 INVENTORS. JOJ'EP/l PEZAV/IV 54am, awn;

ATIUIPIVEKS United States Patent 3,319,743 ARTICLE-STORING DEVICESJoseph Pelavin, Brooklyn, and Julius Sheiman, North Woodinere, N.Y.,assignors to Lark Luggage Corp., New York, N.Y., a corporation of NewYork Filed Sept. 21, 1965, Ser. No. 488,855 12 (Claims. (Cl. 190-41) Thepresent invention relates to article-storing devices,

such as pieces of luggage in which articles are stored to be carriedabout therein.

As is well known, certain problems are encountered in connection withthe locking of such article-storing devices. .These problems areparticularly difficult in connection with article-storing devices whichare provided with slidefastener closures, and the present inventiondeals particularly with an assembly for releasably preventing theoperation of a slide fastener, so that in this Way the slide fastenercan be retained in its position fastening a lid of the article-storingdevice in a position closing a container thereof.

As is well known, slide fasteners conventionally include a pair of tapessituated in side-by-side relation and carrying scoops which are actuatedby a slider so as to be moved into or out of interlocking engagementdepending upon the direction of movement of the slider. In order tofacilitate the movement of the slider, a pull-tab is conventionally'connected therewith, and the pull-tab is generally freely movable withrespect to the slider so that the pull-tab can be oriented relative tothe slider for pulling the latter in either one of a pair of opposeddirections.

Because of the nature of this latter structure, it is difficult toreleasably hold the slide fastener in a position where it will be lockedagainst operation.

This problem is particularly aggravated .in the case of devices whichinclude a pair of slide fasteners, because With such devices it isnecessary to lock both of the slide fastenersagainst operation, so as toprevent access to the article-storing device, and so far therehasbeen nosatisfactory solution to theproblem of locking a pair of slide fastenersagainst operation While the solution to the problem of locking a singleslide fastener against operation has been solvedonl-y in anunsatisfactory cumbersome mannerr. 7 r; Itfis thereformaprimaryobject ofthe present invention to provide an assembly which is quite simple whileat the sametime capable of being effectively operated to retain a slidefastener in its fastened position, without requiring such inconveniencesas attaching of a lock 'to a hasp-like;assembly,- for example.

In particular it"is an object of the present invention to provide anassembly of this type which can incorporate into itself the locking"structure, so that theuser of the structure of the invention need onlycarry a key even when the slide fastener is released for operation.

3 In particular, the objects of theinvention includes the provision ofan assembly capable of cooperating with a pair of slide fasteners forretaining the latter in their fastened positions.

' The objects of the present invention include the provision of a smallcompact assembly capable of being attached to an article such as a pieceof luggage for cooperating with the slide fasteners thereof.

In particular, the objects of the present invention inpair of slidefasteners 16 and clude a device which can be placed in its positionpre-' venting operation of slide fasteners through the simplemanipulation of an element which forms a permanent part of the device,while only manipulation of a single key is required to release the slidefasteners for operation. The objects of the present invention alsoinclude the 3,3l fii3 Patented May 16, 196? provision of a structure ofthe above type which is particularly adapted for use with pieces ofluggage.

In accordance with the invention, an article-storing device, such as apiece of luggage, has at least one slide fastener for cooperating with acontainer member and a lid member of the piece of luggage so as toreleasably retain the lid member in its position closing the containermember when the slide fastener is in its fastened position, while whenthe slide fastener is in its unfastened position the lid member isreleased for movement away from the container member to give accessthereto. This slide fastener conventionally includes a slider elementand a pull-tab element connected thereto, and the structure of theinvention includes a retaining means cooperating with one of theselatter elements of the slide fastener for releasably retaining the slidefastener in its fastened position. A cover means is provided formovement to and from a position covering the retaining means to preventaccess thereto, and a releasable lock means cooperates with the covermeans for releasably retaining the latter in its position preventingaccess to the retaining means.

The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanyingdrawings which form part of the application and in which:

FIG. '1 is a perspective illustration of a piece of luggage providedwith the structure of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary top plan view of that part of the article ofFIG. 1 which is provided with the structure of the invention, thestructure being shown in FIG. 2 in its position preventing operation ofslide fasteners;

FIG. 3 is a transverse section, on an enlarged scale as compared to FIG.2, taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows andshowing further details of the assembly of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 4-4 of FIG.2 in the direction of the arrows and also showing details of thestructure at an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 2; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective illustration of that part of the article of FIG.1 which is provided with the structure of the invention, FIG. 5 showingthe structure in the position it takes when the slide fastener-s arereleased for operation.

Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown therein an articlestoring device inthe form of a suitcase 10 which forms the particular piece of luggageused to illustrate the invention. This piece of luggage 10 includes acontainer member 12, and a lid member 14 movable to and from theposition illustrated in FIG. 1 closing the container member 12 so thatthe stored articles will be retained therein. A 18 are operativelyconnected with the container member 12 and the lid member 14 forreleasably fastening the latter in its closed position shown in FIG. 1.The lid 14 is permanently connected with the container 12 at anintermediate portion of the longitudinal edge of the lid 14 which is atthe bottom of the luggage 10, as viewed in FIG. 1. The pair of slidefasteners are connected with the opposed ends of the portion of the lid14 which is permanently connected with the container 12, and from theseopposed ends the pair of slide fasteners 16 and 18 respectively extendin opposite directions away from each other to the ends of the device10, then upwardly along the opposed ends to the top thereof which isvisible in FIG. 1, and then toward each other where the pair of slidefasteners are acted upon by the assembly 20 of the present invention soas to be releasably retained in their fastened positions fastening thelid 14 in its position closing the container 12, as indicated in FIG. 1.The details of the assembly 20 of the invention are shown in FIGS. 2-5and described below.

As is apparent from FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, the container member 12 has awall portion 22 to which the assembly 20 of the invention is connected.The pair of slide fasteners respectively include tapes which carryscoops, and a pair of these tapes 24 and 26 are visible in FIG. 3. Thetape 24 is fixed in any suitable way to the free edge of the container12, while the tape 26 is fixed in any suitable way to the free edge ofthe did 14. The scoops are adapted to be moved to and from theirinterlocking positions by displacement of the slider elements 28a and28b of the pair of slide fasteners 16 and 18. The slider 28a has apull-tab element 30a conventionally connected therewith, and in the sameway the slider element 28b has a pull-tab element 30b conventionallyconnected therewith. These pull-tab elements are shown in FIG. orientedwith respect to the slider elements so as to displace them apart fromeach other to open the articlestoring device 10. However, when the pairof slide fasteners I16 and 18 are in their fastened positions shown inFIG. 1 retaining the lid member 14 in its position closing the containermember 12, the pair of pull-tab elements 30a and 30b can be turned topositions where they overlie each other. In this latter condition, thepull-tab elements respectively have openings 32a and 32b which arealigned with each other, and a post 34 is received in these alignedopenings. This post 34 forms a retaining means for releasably retainingthe pair of slide fasteners in their fastened positions, and byextending through the aligned openings 32a and 32b the post 34 preventsmovement of the pull-tabs 30a and 30b away from each other so that inthis way the pair of slide fasteners cannot be operated and will beretained in their fully fastened positions.

A support means is provided to support the post 34 of the releasableretaining means of the invention, and this support means includes abracket made up of a lower bracket element 36 and an upper bracketelement 38. The lower bracket element 36 directly engages the wall 22 ofthe container 12 and has a forwardly projecting end 40 which extendsover the slide fasteners and fixedly carries the post 34 which can befastened in any suitable way to the forwardly projecting wall of thelower bracket element 36 as by being riveted thereto.

The upper bracket element 38 has a depending substantially endless sidewall whose free edge directly engages the upper surface of the lowerelement 36, and a pair of rivets 42 are respectively arranged at theopposed sides of the bracket and pass through both of the bracketelements 36 and 38 as well as the wall 22 for fixing the bracket 36, 38to the wall 22.

The upper bracket element 38 fixedly carries a conventional lock means44. This lock means can be purchased as a separate unit and attached tothe bracket as by having lugs which pass through openings of the upperbracket element 38 into the space between the latter and the lowerbracket element 36, and these lugs can be bent so as to fix the lock 44to the bracket. This lock can be actuated through a suitable key andincludes a pair of locking wings 46 which are conventional and which canbe cammed inwardly toward each other, these locking wings 46 being urgedby a spring of the lock 44 apart from each other to predetermine lockingpositions as will be apparent from the description which follows.

The assembly of the invention further includes a cover means 48 in theform of a plate 50 hinged to the bracket 36, 38 for turning movement toand from a position covering the retaining means 34 so as to preventaccess thereto. This plate 50 is provided at one end with the curvedportions 52 surrounding a hinge pin 54 fixed to a lug 56 which is anintegral extension of the upper bracket element 38 and which extendsaround and is fixed to the hinge pin 54 in the manner shown most clearlyin FIG. 3. In this way, the cover plate 50 is hinged to the bracket forturning movement to and from the position shown in FIG. 3. This coverplate 50 is formed with an opening 58 (FIG. 5) which receives the lockmeans 54 when the cover means is turned from the position of FIG. 5 tothe position of FIG. 3. At the opposed edges of the opening 58 the plate50 carries downwardly directed ca-mming projections 60 whichrespectively engage the wings 46 of the lock 44 and cam these wingsinwardly toward each other until the cover 50 has the position shown inFIG. 3. At this position the upper surface of the cover plate 50 in theregion of the wings 46 is at an elevation just below these wings whichnow snap out under the action of the spring of the lock means 44 so thatthe front ends of the wings overlap and extend in part over the topsurface of the plate 50, in the manner shown in FIG. 2, and in this waythe cover is releasalbly locked in the position shown in FIG. 3 where itwill prevent access to the post 34.

It is to be noted that the cover plate 50 is provided along its opposedside edges with depending flanges 62 and at its front end with adepending flange 64. When the top end of the post 34 engages theundersurface of the cover 50 to maintain the latter at the positionshown in FIG. 3 where the lock wings 46 can snap over the top surface ofthe cover 50, the depending side flanges 62 have their lower edgessituated at an elevation sufficiently high to prevent any engagementwith the overlapping pull tabs 30a and 30b. The front depending flange64, however, extends over the entire depth of the retaining post 34 andthe overlapping pull tabs, so that the cover means 48 in this wayprevents access to the releasable retaining means 34 when the covermeans 48 is releasably locked by the lock means 44 in its position shownin FIG. 3 preventing access to the post 34.

In this way, the structure of the invention by a simple turning of thecover means 48 will releasably prevent operation of the slide fasteners.

Assuming that the piece of luggage 10 has been filled with the articleswhich are to be stored therein, the operator will simply turn the lid 14to its closed position and the slide fasteners 16 and 18 will bemanipulated so as to be placed in their fully fastened positionsfastening the lid 14 to the container 12. When in their fully fastenedpositions, the sliders of the slide fasteners will be situated adjacenteach other, and the operator can very easily turn the pull-tabs so as toplace them in overlapping relation with the post 34 extending throughthe aligned openings 32a and 32b. The pull-tabs of the pair of slidefasteners can be placed one above the other in any sequence, and it isnot essential that a particular one of the pull-tabs be turned first toits position receiving the post 34 before the other pull-tab is pulledto its position receiving the post 34. Therefore the operator can turneither pull-tab before the other one. Once both of the pull-tabs havebeen placed in' their positions where their openings 32a and 32b arealigned and receive the post 34, the operator need only flip the cover50 to the position shown in FIG. 3. The camming projections 60 will camthe wings 46 inwardly toward each other and when the cover 50 engagesthe top end of the post 34 the wings 46 will have snapped apart fromeach other to a position overlapping the top surface of the cover 50 soas to maintain the latter in its position illustrated in FIG. 3. Inorder to have access to the slide fasteners so as to displace them totheir unfastened positions, the operator need only insert a key into thelock means 44 and upon turning of the key will draw, in a well-knownmanner, the wings 46 toward each other so that the cover 50 can now beturned into the position shown in FIG. 5, and ofcourse, the operatorwill now remove the keyfrom the lock 44. In this position the pair ofpull-tabs can be turned to the positions illustrated in FIG. 5 and bothslide fasteners can be displaced to their unfastened positions.

What is claimed is:

1. An article-storing device, such as a piece of luggage, comprising acontainer member and a lid member movable to and from a closed positionclosing said container member, a slide fastener operatively connectedwith said members and having an unfastened position releasing said lidmember for movement from its closed position and a fastened position atleast partly fastening said lid member in said closed position thereof,said slide fastener including a slider element and a pull-tab elementconnected thereto, releasable retaining means operatively connected withone of said elements of said slide fastener for releasably retainingsaid one element in the location it has when said slide fastener is insaid fastened position thereof, cover means movable to and from aposition covering said releasable retaining means for preventing accessthereto, and releasable lock means operatively engaging said cover meansfor releasably locking the latter in said position covering saidretaining means.

2. A device as recited in claim 1 and wherein said releasable retainingmeans is operatively connected with said pull-tab element.

3. A device as recited in claim 2 and wherein said pull-tab element isformed with an opening and said retaining means includes a postextending through said opening to releasably retain said pull-tabelement at said location.

4. A device as recited in claim 3 and wherein a pair of said slidefasteners are operatively connected with said container member and lidmember, said pair of slide fasteners being identical and symmetricallyarranged with respect to each other and said pull-tabs of said slidefasteners being situated one against the other with their openingsaligned and said post extending through both of said openings forreleasably retaining both pull tabs at said locations, so that bothslide fasteners will be releasably retained in their fastened positions.

5. A device as recited in claim 1 and wherein a support means is mountedon one of said members and carries said retaining means, said covermeans, and said lock means.

6. A device as recited in claim 5 and wherein said support means isfixedly mounted on said container member.

7. A device as recited in claim 5 and wherein said support meansincludes a bracket fixed to said one memher and carrying said retainingmeans, said cover means being in the form of an elongated member hingedto said bracket for turning movement to and from a position coveringsaid retaining means to prevent access thereto and said lock means beingautomatically actuated by said cover means to releasably lock the latterin its position preventing access to said retaining means.

8. A device as recited in claim 7 and wherein said lock means includesan element capable of being cammed to and from a locking position andsaid cover means camming said element of said lock means to to aposition where the latter element can snap over said cover means toreleasably retain the latter in its position preventing access to saidretaining means.

9. An assembly for preventing operation of a slide fastener, so as toretain the slide fastener in a given position, said assembly comprisinga bracket, a post fixed to said bracket and adapted to extend through anopening of a pull-tab of a slide fastener, a cover hinged to saidbracket for turning movement to and from a covering position coveringsaid post to prevent access thereto, and lock means carried by saidbracket and releasably locking said cover in its position preventingaccess to said post.

10. An assembly as recited in claim 9 and wherein said cover hasdepending flanges which define between themselves a space in which saidpost is situated when said cover is in its position preventing access tosaid post.

11. An assembly as recited in claim 9 and wherein said cover is formedwith an opening receiving said lock means when said cover is turned toits position prevent ing access to said post, said cover carrying in theregion of its opening a camming member which cams a movable element ofsaid lock means to cam said movable element to a position where it willsnap over part of said cover to retain the latter in its positionpreventing access to said post.

12. An article-storing device, such as a piece of luggage, comprising acontainer member and a lid member movable to and from a closed positionclosing said container member, a pair of identical, symmetricallyarranged slide fasteners operatively connected with said members formovement relative thereto between unfastened positions releasing saidlid member for movement from its position closing said container memberand fastened positions fastening said lid member in its position closingsaid container member, said slide members when respectively in theirfastened positions respectively having a pair of pull-tabs situated oneover the other, and said pull-tabs respectively having openings whichare aligned with each other when said pull-tabs are situated one overthe other in the fastened positions of said slide fasteners, a postextending through said aligned openings, a bracket carrying said postand fixed to one of said members, a cover hinged to said bracket andturnable relative thereto to a position covering said post to preventaccess thereto, so that said pull-tabs will be retained by said postuntil said cover is turned away from said post to give access theretofor removing said tabs from said post, and releasable lock means carriedby said bracket and releasably retaining said cover in its positionpreventing access to said post.

No references cited.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner.

1. AN ARTICLE-STORING DEVICE, SUCH AS A PIECE OF LUGGAGE, COMPRISING ACONTAINER MEMBER AND A LID MEMBER MOVABLE TO AND FROM A CLOSED POSITIONCLOSING SAID CONTAINER MEMBER, A SLIDE FASTENER OPERATIVELY CONNECTEDWITH SAID MEMBERS AND HAVING AN UNFASTENED POSITION RELEASING SAID LIDMEMBER FOR MOVEMENT FROM ITS CLOSED POSITION AND A FASTENED POSITION ATLEAST PARTLY FASTENING SAID LID MEMBER IN SAID CLOSED POSITION THEREOF,SAID SLIDE FASTENER INCLUDING A SLIDER ELEMENT AND A PULL-TAB ELEMENTCONNECTED THERETO, RELEASABLE RETAINING MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITHONE OF SAID ELEMENTS OF SAID SLIDE FASTENER FOR RELEASABLY RETAININGSAID ONE ELEMENT IN THE LOCATION IT HAS WHEN SAID SLIDE FASTENER IS INSAID FASTENED POSITION THEREOF, COVER MEANS MOVABLE TO AND FROM APOSITION COVERING SAID RELEASABLE RETAINING MEANS FOR PREVENTING ACCESSTHERETO, AND RELEASABLE LOCK MEANS OPERATIVELY ENGAGING SAID COVER MEANSFOR RELEASABLY LOCKING THE LATTER IN SAID POSITION COVERING SAIDRETAINING MEANS.